Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. airlines are resuming New York
City-area service today after Tropical Storm Irene grounded
planes in the nation’s busiest aviation market and forced the
cancellation of more than 11,200 flights.

United Continental Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and
American Airlines, the biggest carriers in the New York area,
said they would restart operations at midday. Southwest Airlines
Co., US Airways Group Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. also were
flying in the region today or preparing to do so.

Airlines whisked jets out of Irene’s way last week, echoing
the wintertime practice of pre-emptive cancellations to keep
planes from being stranded by blizzards. Their extra costs
probably will be “in the millions of dollars versus the tens of
millions,” said Helane Becker, a Dahlman Rose & Co. analyst.

“We estimate this to be equivalent to a snowstorm,”
Becker, who is based in New York, said in an interview. She said
yesterday that she spoke to a “couple of the airlines” in
making her assessment.

While no carrier reported major damage, airline spokesmen
said it was too soon to project specific financial effects.

“There’s no doubt there was a revenue impact and, in fact,
it’s probably in the mid-teens in terms of millions of
dollars,” JetBlue Chief Executive Officer Dave Barger said
today in an interview on CNBC.

Today’s Cancellations

The six biggest U.S. airlines have more than 1,600 flights
that won’t operate today as planes and crew members are
repositioned, based on figures from spokesmen. That compares
with the U.S. industry’s average of about 31,000 flights on a
typical Monday during the summer travel season, according to
Houston-based data tracker FlightAware.com.

Cancellations since Aug. 27 totaled at least 11,216 through
today, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. That compared with
the scrubbing of almost 20,000 flights in the week that ended
Feb. 4 as snow blanketed airports such as Chicago’s O’Hare, a
hub for United and AMR Corp.’s American.

JetBlue is aiming for a 3:30 p.m. restart to New York and
Boston flights, said Mateo Lleras, a spokesman. Southwest was
flying to and from all its northeast airports except Newark,
where it expected to resume flying about noon local time, said
Katie McDonald, a spokeswoman.

“Our hope is that the operation will be completely back to
normal by Tuesday morning,” said Todd Lehmacher, a spokesman
for US Airways Group Inc., whose New York service includes
shuttle flights between New York’s LaGuardia and Washington’s
Ronald Reagan National.

Looking Ahead

Airlines scrubbed flights ahead of Irene and waived
penalties to rebook travel to help ease today’s operations. With
planes already full as the summer vacation season ends, early
notice about cancellations was aimed at thinning the number of
passengers who needed to be re-accommodated after the storm.

New York’s aviation infrastructure, which includes three
major airports run by the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, faced a weakened Irene, with tropical-storm winds
instead of the hurricane-strength gusts that lashed North
Carolina a day earlier.

Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports reopened for
arriving flights, said Steve Coleman, a Port Authority
spokesman. LaGuardia is open for departures, and Newark and
Kennedy airports are set for takeoffs starting at noon, he said.

Today’s Delays

Delays at all three airports this morning were 15 minutes
or less, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
website.

The region will be a focal point of air-travel restoration
efforts today, because the three biggest airline companies all
have bases in the New York area.

United Continental, the world’s largest carrier, has a hub
for its Continental unit at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty airport.
Chicago-based United also has the largest New York market share
by passengers, followed by Atlanta-based Delta.

Delta and American have hubs at John F. Kennedy and
LaGuardia airports. About 104 million passengers used the three
airports last year, making it the busiest U.S. aviation market.

New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, home to corporate and
private aircraft serving the region, remained closed due to
flooding, said Ron Marsico, a Port Authority spokesman. He said
the agency didn’t know when flights would resume there.

American’s terminal in Norfolk, Virginia, had some damage
from flooding, said Andrea Huguely, a spokeswoman for the unit
of Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp.

Delta and US Airways reported leaky roofs at some of their
facilities and offices, while Dallas-based Southwest had water
damage to a jetway in Albany, New York.

“We think the level of preparedness for this event from
the government, port authorities and others has been
extraordinary,” said Lleras, the spokesman for New York-based
JetBlue.